Well we’ve reached the end of February and it feels like spring can’t come soon enough. As much as we fishermen and women hope for a long brutal winter, I’m sure the people of Wyoming are looking forward to a break in the cold and snowy weather. It won’t be long until the spring Baetis are popping, the sun is warm, and the fishing seems like it can’t get any better. Make sure to give the shop a call and get your spring trips on the books, we are already filling up fast!
This past week we saw one of the larger snow events of the winter. Roads were closed across the state and temperatures dove into the negatives with widespread blizzard conditions. Casper received over 12” of snow, the mountain got closer to 24”-30”, and Alcova even got a whopping 8”. One of our ranching friends out in Alcova expressed that he hasn’t seen a winter like this since the 70’s, so I’d say we aren’t going to struggle too much with water this year. Our snowpack is sitting at a healthy 124%, but we suspect this value will increase with temperatures projected to stay below freezing and more snow undoubtedly on the way.
And now for what I’m sure many of you have been waiting for: the *Flush Update*. As far as we know the Bureau of Rec is calling for the flush to start March 10th. The flush is completely dependent on ice conditions on the river, so we suspect this date will get pushed back due to the last snap of cold weather, and especially looking at the ice shelves more towards Casper. Unfortunately, we aren’t top of the list in terms of information regarding the flush, but if I had to guess we are looking more at mid to late march at the earliest. We will obviously keep you all updated the moment we learn anything more. Wish we could give more of a definitive answer!
And finally, let’s go over current fishing conditions on the Reef, Mile, and in the Canyon.
Grey Reef: 450cfs
Conditions: The Reef saw a significant increase in ice due to the storm we received this week. The top 2 miles below the dam are fishable, but watch out for extended ice shelves. Some runs may still have too much ice to productively fish. As of right now we don’t have a report on the floatability from the Dam to Lusby, give the shop a call at (307)232-9128 before you pull the boat out, we should know within the next couple of days. The Bridge run is completely frozen over, and there is little to no open water from the bridge to East of Casper.
Nymphs: Leeches (brown, natural, UV ), hot-head leeches (brown w/orange head, black w/chartreuse head), PALs, Rhinestones, Reef Worms, Mini Impalers, Black Mayhems, Black All Day Mays, Scuds of various colors. Target water directly off a shelf, the slow insides, and the deep tailouts. Rigs have been living at 4-5 feet with anywhere from 1-3 BBs.
Streamers: Kreelex, Rusty-T, Goldie, Thin Mint, Peacock Bugger, Olive/Tan Peanut Envy etc. Make sure to be using a sink tip or sinking line. The most productive retrieval has either been low and slow, or just on the swing through the slow insides and long tailouts. Fish are hugged on the bottom and need that streamer right in front of their face to get a reaction.
Miracle Mile: 490cfs +/-
We have no current fishing conditions for the Mile. With the past snowfall Kortes road is extremely drifted over and we do not advise driving out there. For updated reports on the road conditions please don’t hesitate to call the shop.
Fremont Canyon: 76cfs
Unfortunately both of the roads out to Fremont are pretty drifted in as well. One of our local Game and Fish biologist was unable to get to the canyon yesterday because the drifts got pretty bad. The closer to the canyon you get the deeper the drifts are. These should clear up sooner than the Mile road, and we should have a report on that in the coming week. At this time, we do not advise driving to Fremont.
Well that’s all for our fishing report as of right now. This winter has been a rough one and your best bet is always to call the shop before venturing out especially when you’re looking to fish Fremont or the Mile. We are chomping at the bit to see what this season has in store for us, and we can’t wait to see everyone up here once the weather clears up. Tight lines folks!